Authors Note: Sorry it took so long for this to come out! Have had a busy few days. Hope you enjoy!
Merlin stood in the hotel room staring at the reflection in the mirror. He looked good. He was in a good wedding suit: a long black jacket with a tail, black trousers, a cream waistcoat with a simple, but effective pattern stitched into it, a white shirt and a green pocket square and tie. The tie wasn't done up yet. Merlin didn't really know what to do with it.
He had done up a tie before…in one of his lives. He just hadn't done it for so long. Luckily he wasn't alone for this.
Gaius opened the door and walked over to Merlin, smiling at the man who he could tell was anxious.
"Ties are a tricky business aren't they?" Gaius smirked. He then span Merlin around and started to do the tie up for him. He moved his hands skilfully and quite quickly, Merlin was impressed, "Years of experience." He finished it and pulled Merlin's collar down, then smiled at the boy, "That will do."
"Yeah." Merlin replied, as he saw himself in the reflection of the mirror. He looked good, ready for his wedding day. But the wedding wasn't what Merlin was worried about. He knew what Arthur had intended for the day. Merlin knew that today was the last performance he would be in, but today he would not be the one performing.
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about it. He turned back to face Gaius, "Gaius…thank you. For everything. You've done so much for me over the years, I'm…I'm just eternally grateful." A tear started to roll down his eye and Gaius laughed.
"Merlin, it has been an honour," Gaius grinned, producing a few tears himself that he decided not to hide.
Meanwhile Arthur was getting ready. He was used to doing everything for himself and so was immaculate and ready when his sister came into the room and smiled at him, "Arthur. You look…"
"Let me guess Morgana, I look like a penguin? Or maybe a butler? How about I look like I'm ready for St. Patricks Day," Arthur was smirking while sounding serious. Morgana walked over to him and put her arms around his chest.
"You look wonderful," She said smiling. Arthur turned around and hugged his sister. After a few moments the hug broke off and Arthur smiled at his sister, who was wearing a beautiful long green dress made of some sort of silky material. She just looked beautiful in every way she could, completely stunning, "You know, you're not meant to look more beautiful then the couple."
Morgana laughed, "Father's on his way too. He just wanted to make sure that everything was ready at the church."
"Ah, great." Arthur replied, "Has everyone else on the list started to arrive?"
"I've checked into it, everyone you asked for is coming. But Arthur, some of these people…they're a bit…different. That is to say…I didn't expect you to invite some of the people."
Arthur laughed, "You're telling me. But they all deserve to be here for this Morgana." Arthur smiled and Morgana laughed slightly, not knowing what had come over her brother, "And Merlin invited a load of them anyway. Don't pin it all on me."
As time passed Arthur headed over to the church. The two had decided that Arthur would be the one waiting at the alter for him to arrive – Merlin had done enough waiting over the years that it only seemed fitting. As Arthur arrived at the church he smiled seeing all the faces that had gathered.
The first group he saw were his best men, the knights, who were all waiting up at the front, smiling as they noticed Arthur walk in. Also with them was his father, whose face looked softer than usual when he saw Arthur come in. Arthur then turned his attention to the rest of the room. There were a group of people who looked like the cast of a soap in the back, who looked a bit out of place in suits and fancy dresses. These were the servants that had helped Arthur throughout the years. Arthur remembered each of their names and smiled, they were important people that Arthur made sure were invited (much to Merlin's dismay as he had to track every one of them down).
He saw a group of people who looked perfectly comfortable, sitting and socialising. He recognised them as his uncle, Agravaine, a Queen back in the past, Annis and some of the princesses that Arthur had courted back in the past. He laughed as he saw Agravaine's expression upon hearing the Elena let out a huge belch midway through conversation. His eyes then followed onwards and he saw a couple teasing each other, sat in a corner. Arthur smiled; Tristan and Isolde had made it. They were particularly difficult to track down, but Merlin had managed to find them in some remote village. Then as he came towards the front he saw Guinevere, looking beautiful as she did the other day. She smiled upon seeing Arthur. He would have loved to talk to her for a while longer, but he knew that he needed to get ready and into position. Ready for his fiancé.
Meanwhile Merlin was taking his time to get ready. He had met with his mother at the hotel and started to travel with her and Gaius towards the church. However for some reason the traffic was building up and so the journey was taking a bit more time then expected. Merlin was strangely calm about the whole thing, finding it quite amusing as he imagined Arthur's face as he waited at the alter.
They made a quick stop before getting into the church and collected Will, Merlin's best man, who had decided to be awkward and force them to collect him instead of him going from them from the hotel. "Will is always Will," Merlin laughed in his head. The four then made their way over to the church. They got out of the car and then started to make their way towards the church. Gaius snuck in and made some signals. While he did, Merlin took a peek in to see all of the people.
The church was full with people. Merlin laughed as he remembered the faces. While Arthur remembered most of the people, there were a few that Arthur didn't know about who had always played an important role in his stories development. People that Merlin made sure arrived. He saw a woman lurking in the shadows looking a little devious, even though she couldn't have anything planned for this event, Nimueh, there was a man with a scarred face, Edwin, various druids were popping out all over the place, Gilli, Alator, Daegal, Finna. There was even a man at the back who would have been at the front if times were different, if he hadn't had to look after his family instead. Merlin smiled at Lancelot, who seemed to be lost in all of this, not really knowing why he was there. This feeling was shared by many of the guests, as there were none, apart from Arthur and Merlin, who knew why they were all here. But something struck them when they met Arthur and Merlin. All of the people they invited had come. Everyone they could find had made it…well, almost everyone. The police was still holding Morgause as her case had not finished yet, but Arthur and Merlin agreed that they didn't mind so much about that. It would be a good story for the future, another story of a prisoner who managed to escape a cell.
Merlin then stepped back, and Will put his hand on his shoulder, "You ready?" Merlin smiled at him, "Let's do this."
The processional music started, everyone stood up and Merlin started to walk down the isle, with his mother on his arm. Behind him was Will and Gaius – not the most traditional set up but it was the people that they had available, and the people that Merlin wanted walking behind him. The people who had always supported him exactly as he was.
Merlin did wonder whether his father was alive and could have seen this. His mother had insisted that he was dead, but Merlin never knew with him. Maybe he was watching from one of the shadowy corners of the church. Maybe he was keeping an eye on his son and smiling. Merlin did know that Gaius was with him though, so he knew that the man who in all rights was his father was supporting him with every step.
Merlin made his way over to Arthur, who was beaming beautifully at the sight of him. As Merlin arrived beside Arthur, Arthur took hold of his hand and they exchanged a small smile to each other. Merlin knew that it was Arthur saying that 'everything will be alright'.
Geoffrey turned towards the two and Merlin grinned, holding down a laugh, as the man started to talk through the wedding. The ceremony itself went to plan for the most part. No one had tried to affect the ceremony in any way, no random illusions or attacks on Arthur. The most worrying thing was the game of which best man had the rings. Merlin had the easy job knowing that Will had Arthur's, but Arthur had to hit each of his best men around the head as they were passing the ring between them.
Luckily by the time they reached the vows, it was revealed that Gwaine was holding Merlin's ring. Arthur sighed deeply, taking the ring off of him and passing it to Lyon, who he hoped would not start the game again.
Geoffrey, who was looking frustrated with the distraction, started on the vows, "Arthur Pendragon, do you take Merlin Ambrosius to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honour and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, for as long as you both shall live?"
Arthur smiled, as he looked Merlin in the eyes, "I do." To Merlin this sound melted everything. All of his anxieties about what was about to happen were destroyed as Arthur stared at him with his piercing eyes. Merlin's eyes glowed orange and he stopped the moment there, allowing himself to savour every detail. He felt loved. He knew that he was, and whatever happened next, he would always be loved.
The moment unfroze and Geoffrey started again, "Do you, Merlin Ambrosius, take Arthur Pendragon to be your husband, to cherish in friendship and love today, tomorrow and for as long as the two of you live, to trust and honour him, to love him faithfully, through the best and the worst, whatever may come, and if you should ever doubt, to remember your love for each other and the reason why you came together with him this day?"
Merlin looked straight at Arthur, who gave him a look saying 'hurry up Merlin'. Merlin grinned, "I guess I do." There was laughter through the church as Arthur shook his head and mouthed, "Idiot." Merlin mouthed back "prat" as the laughter finished. The two then looked at Geoffrey again.
This led to the rings (of which both were now present and safely away from Gwaine) being passed over. Arthur repeated with Geoffrey, "I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honour you, in the name of God." as he placed the ring upon Merlin's finger. Merlin froze the moment again so that he could savour it. He then eventually unfroze it and did the same with Geoffrey handing his ring over to Arthur.
The ceremony continued and Geoffrey then said, "And with this I pronounce you husbands joined together, you may now kiss." And on that note, Arthur drew Merlin in and they shared a passionate and wonderful kiss. Parts of the congregation cheered loudly, with others just clapping in a stately manner. Merlin froze this moment for he knew that this would be the last time. The last time that everything would be normal.
This time he had frozen him and Arthur. The two finished kissing and then looked upon the congregation. "I don't want it to end." Merlin stated looking out at them. He then turned to Arthur, who was also looking out, "Arthur. We could stop. We could let it continue."
Arthur then turned and looked at Merlin, he smiled at him with the smile that reassured every part of Merlin, "Merlin. It's time. You know what they say, all good things and all that."
"Cliché." Merlin grumbled. Arthur laughed as he hugged him. He then took his hands and they stood where they were again. "Last time then."
"Make it a good one," Arthur smirked as he led Merlin in for the kiss again, making it look just as passionate as the last one. The moment unfroze and the two were showered in the noise of appreciation from the congregation again. The kiss then stopped and Arthur took a breath in.
He then turned to the congregation and let the breath out, "Dear friends. I know that it isn't customary for the speeches to be done so early, but my husband and I wanted to make sure that you know how much we value each of you for being here today. Each of you are here for a reason, because you have touched our lives in so many ways. You may not entirely know how, but we know, and you are all here because of that mark you have made. For every good thing that we have done, it is because of all of you. Because of your efforts, your sacrifice, your love, we are here today to celebrate this day."
He smiled as he looked at the faces in the crowd, all of them waiting for his words, "But today it is time for the story to end and for a new one to begin. I tell you all that you have done enough. We have all done enough. We have played our roles countless times to ensure that the world remains an ultimately good place, but we need not do that anymore. I…we believe that the world will be inspired by us, that us stepping away will allow good people to come out and do good things. The legacy that we leave will allow normal people to step out and do extraordinary things. Good people will do our work."
Arthur could see the confusion on everyone, but knew that Merlin was holding onto his hand. He would finish this, "So, what I am trying to say, is that it is ok. Your job is done. You can rest now. I thank you all for everything through the years, but you can now stop. We can all stop."
A light then appeared infront of Arthur. The light went up into the air and seemed to explode above the people. Suddenly he could see realisation of their faces as they all awoke from their dream of lives and remembered everything. Their confused looks suddenly disappeared and they looked upon Arthur with one unified emotion, no matter what they all felt about him, no matter what experiences that had with him in the past, they were all in agreement. It was time to end this. It was time to stop. They all smiled at him.
"Thank you all." Arthur called out, he then held tightly to Merlin's hand as faces started to vanish from the crowd. Person after person they faded, like pages being ripped out of a book. The rows started to go from the back as people were taken away. Arthur looked at Merlin as the people started to vanish and then let go of their hands, as he knew that they both had people they had to say goodbye to.
As Arthur let go he walked straight to his father. The two embraced with Uther holding Arthur's head and stroking his hair, "Father…did I do well? Did I do the right thing in the end?"
"Arthur…you have been a better king then I could ever be. I am proud of you my son." Uther whispered into Arthur's ear, starting tears flowing from both of their eyes. At the moment Morgana walked over to the two and joined in the hug.
"I resented you for a long time," Morgana stated looking at Arthur, she then turned to Uther, "I hated you for such a long time." She then smiled as she held onto the two tightly, "But I learnt that you both are my family, you are important to me in a way that I can't understand but I know deep inside. Merlin taught me that. I love you both."
While this was happening Merlin stood with the knights, who laughed and messed with him once more. But it was time for them to go. Arthur left the embrace of his family and walked over to them. He shook each of their hands as they started to vanish, "I'll see you guys again, wherever we end up." Gwaine sighed, "What? You're saying I'll never be rid of you. Don't end this with such bad news."
The group laughed as the nights started to disappear, waving as they did. Merlin then turned and was embraced by his mother, "I love you Merlin. I'll always love you, no matter what."
"I know Mum." Merlin replied, tears rolling down his face as he held her tightly and as close as he could. She then backed away and vanished. Merlin then felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Gaius, and they hugged, "It's all going so fast Gaius. I just wish…"
"I know Merlin, I know." Gaius reassured him, "You and Arthur are doing the right thing. We all agree with it. You two have done enough." Gaius then walked over to Uther and Morgana. Uther and Gaius nodded to each other. They then vanished. There was then one person left in the room.
Arthur and Merlin walked towards Gwen. She grabbed Merlin in a hug as tears streamed down her face, "Merlin. Oh Merlin. You have been an amazing friend. Thank you for everything you have done." The two then stopped and Gwen moved in towards Arthur. Merlin decided to give them some room, for he knew that Arthur and Gwen's feelings for each other still existed, no matter what else happened.
The two embraced and Arthur held Gwen for a while. They didn't speak; they just stood in each other's embrace as Gwen started to disappear. Arthur finally let go when he felt her body vanish. He looked down at the floor and saw that in her place she had left a daisy, like the bouquet he had brought to her before.
Now the only people who were left at the wedding were Merlin and Arthur. They moved to each other and embraced, "Does this mean that we're going to start disappearing?" Merlin asked. Arthur then sighed, "How am I meant to know Merlin? Surely you are the one who knows about magic."
"Great way to ruin a moment Arthur!" Merlin shouted as the two broke the embrace, "We were having a sweet embrace, all of our friends start vanishing, and you decide to be all sarcastic again. Like usual. Well that's just great isn't it!" Arthur started to laugh at the outburst, "Oh, yeah, that's right, you laugh Arthur Pendragon! You stupid idiot, you irritating dollophead, you…clotpole!"
The two stood in silence for a minute, and then they both burst into hysterical laughter. They couldn't stop themselves. They continued laughing for a long time, eventually collapsing on the floor next to each other. After about five minutes they stopped and looked at each other.
"One last trip?" Merlin suggested. Arthur smirked and then took his hand as the two teleported like they had many times before.
